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In Old Norse Literature and Culture

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In Old Norse Literature and Culture “LIQUID KNOWLEDGE” IN OLD NORSE LITERATURE AND CULTURE Stefka G. Eriksen∗ Abstract: In an article from 2010, Judy Quinn argues that the metaphor of “liquid knowledge” in eddic poetry refers to the liquidity of the oral society where the eddic poetry was composed and transmitted. The aim of the present article is to expand on and nuance this interpretation based on two main factors: (1) the poetry is known to us from manuscripts produced in a highly evolved literate culture, and (2) the commonness of the metaphor linking ingestion and digestion, on the one hand, and cognitive transformation, on the other, in medieval Christian texts and rituals. This evidence suggests that the metaphor of drinking and eating knowledge has a great degree of plasticity and may refer both to the liquidity of an oral culture and to theological paradigms in medieval Christian literate culture. This has implications for our understanding of the Old Norse literary system in general and for attitudes to knowledge in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Old Norse culture. Keywords: knowledge, cognition, tasting, ingestion, digestion, drinking, eating, eddic poetry, Old Norse mythology, Christian theology. INTRODUCTION In her article “Liquid Knowledge: Traditional Conceptualisation of Learning in Eddic Poetry,” Judy Quinn investigates the metaphor “liquid knowledge,” as it is used in eddic texts, and argues that it refers to the liquidity of Old Norse oral culture.1 The metaphor represents, according to Quinn, “the sense of knowledge as flowing from mouth to mouth and being ingested in order to be incorporated by the listeners [which] is of course [my emphasis] a product of a society not dependent on writing.”2 She mentions that mythological sources on acquisition of knowledge are relevant not only for the discussion of oral society, but also for the orality-literacy debate, because beer is described as carrying both chanted genres and inscribed symbols. Judy Quinn also shows that the sense of hearing is distinguished from cognitive comprehending in the eddic corpus. In many eddic poems, there is a difference between hearing, catching the meaning (nema), and using the information or knowledge (njóta). According to Quinn, this reflects the fact that the idea of eating, drinking, and digesting knowledge is common in oral tradition and that learning depends not only on remembering, but also on assimilation and being attentive.3 Quinn’s analysis emphasizes the significance of hermeneutical and cognitive understanding in oral culture, and she argues that it is commonly represented through the liquid knowledge metaphor. Acknowledging Quinn’s conclusion that the metaphor may reflect the liquidity of the oral culture where the poems were originally created, the argument will be taken one step further, by discussing the possible meanings of the metaphor in the Christian context of the preserved versions of the poems. Quinn herself comments on the manuscript transmission of the poems and discusses the implications of corrections in ∗Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, Storgata 2, 0155 Oslo, Norway, [email protected]. I wish to thank Eric Palazzo for reading and discussing with me an early version of the article, as well as the anonymous readers at Viator for their constructive feedback. 1 Judy Quinn, “Liquid Knowledge: Traditional Conceptualisation of Learning in Eddic Poetry,” Along the Oral-Written Continuum: Types of Texts, Relations and their Implications, ed. Slavica Rankovic, with Leidulf Melve and Else Mundal, Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy 20 (Turnhout 2010) 183–226. 2 Ibid. 183. 3 Ibid. 186, 215. 2 STEFKA G. ERIKSEN the manuscripts for the editing of the text in various editions and, consequently, for the meaning of the texts.4 Nonetheless, she is not explicit about what period and socio- cultural context her observations are relevant for (the context of origin or the context of preservation) and concludes, as mentioned, that the use of the “liquid knowledge” metaphor alludes to the liquidity of oral cultures. In this article, we will pay closer attention to two factors that Quinn touches upon in her study, but only briefly, namely: (1) the manuscript context of the poetry, and (2) the significance and commonness of the metaphor of drinking and eating knowledge in Old Norse and medieval Christian texts (and rituals), in general. Such a scrutiny of the manuscript and thematic context of the metaphor will convey whether the metaphor of drinking (and eating) knowledge may refer both to the liquidity of an oral culture, as argued by Quinn, and to the theological thinking characteristic of medieval Christian literate culture. Finally, these discussions have implications for our understanding of the Old Norse literary system in general and the attitudes to knowledge in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Old Norse culture. ON LITERARY SYSTEMS AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS First of all, a clarification of a few theoretical and methodological premises is in order. The investigation of the commonness and significance of the metaphor in the Old Norse literary system necessitates the study of a wide span of texts. For the sake of clarity of presentation, the texts to be studied may be divided into two subgroups: “pre-Christian-oral-indigenous” and “Christian-written-translated.” First, we will look at indigenous texts, such as eddic poetry, Snorri’s Edda, and a couple of fornaldarsögur. Thereafter, we will focus on Old Norse texts and translations from Latin and French, such as The King’s Mirror, The Old Norse Homily Book, Barlaams saga, Tristrams saga, and Elíss saga, among others.5 The texts in the first group convey allegedly pre-Christian Nordic mythology and oral poetics, although these are preserved in manuscripts produced within a Christian literate environment. The texts in the second group have undoubtedly Christian content and are characterized by their writtenness and translatedness. These distinctions between the texts will not be seen as representing dichotomies, but rather as functioning along three continuums. The first continuum concerns the thematic content of the texts: pre-Christian versus Christian content. The discussion of the possible Christian influence on the composition of eddic poetry, for example, started already at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, focusing on the link between Vǫluspá and the Greek-Latin-Christian tradition of the Sibylline Oracles.6 One of Sophus Bugge’s main arguments was that Old Norse mythology was based on Christian and/or classical sources, via English and Irish contacts during the Viking Age. His point of view was much debated and contradicted already during his time. 4 Ibid. 221, fn. 101. 5 This investigation does not claim exhaustive coverage of the usage of the metaphor in the whole Old Norse literary system, but a certain textual and generic span is purposefully aimed for. 6 A. Chr. Bang, Vøluspaa og de Sibyllinske Orakler, Christiania Videnskabsselskabs Forhandlinger 9 (Christiania 1879/1880). See also Sophus Bugge, Studier over de nordiske Gude- og Heltesagns Oprindelse. First series (Christiania 1881–1889). LIQUID KNOWLEDGE 3 Recent scholars tend to be more concerned with general influence, analogues, or models, rather than direct sources.7 Joseph Harris explains that while the term “source” belongs to a literate tradition, terms like “models” and “analogues” suit the eddic corpus better, “as eddic poetry is oral in essence, its attested language is part of a great oral sea of poetic language never systematically attested in writing.”8 A recent book on the poem Vǫluspá, for example, shows how the poem can both be read as instructive of pre-Christian oral tradition and be understood within the written and liturgical context of Christianity.9 The main tendencies in the studies of other Old Norse texts, such as the Icelandic family sagas10 and the legendary sagas,11 have followed the same main paradigm shifts as scholarship of eddic poetry, as summarized above. These genres retell events that happened in pre-Christian times, and scholars have eagerly discussed what mentality is most imprinted in them—the original pre-Christian framework of mind or the Christian structure of the writer/scribe. Based on these developments in the discussion, a main premise for this study is that pre-Christian, traditional myths must certainly have formed part of the competence of the Christian writers, and their Christian mindset most probably influenced the writing down of pre-Christian myths. Therefore, it is most productive to keep both these entities—knowledge of Old Norse as well as of Christian mythologies and histories— in mind when discussing the literary system of the time. The degree to which the individual writer drew upon the two traditions certainly varied, but when the Christian and pre-Christian themes are placed on a continuum, the pool of knowledge and the literary system can be seen as a dynamic and coherent whole. The second continuum is closely linked to the first and concerns the oral, as opposed to the written, character of the texts. Scholarship on orality and literacy of eddic poetry has followed the broader history of orality-literacy discussions.12 The general movement of the discussion of orality has been from composition, to transmission, to delivery, to performance, and back. The pioneering work of Milman Parry and Albert Lord has influenced scholarship on the Old Norse corpus and eddic 7 Karl G. Johansson, “Völuspá and the Tiburtine Sibyl, and the apocalypse in the North,” The Nordic Apocalypse: Approaches to Völuspá and Nordic Days of Judgement, ed. T. Gunnell and A. Lassen, Acta Scandinavica 2 (Turnhout 2013) 67–86. 8 Joseph Harris, “Traditions of eddic scholarship,” A Handbook to Eddic Poetry. Myths and Legends of Early Scandinavia, ed. Carolyne Larrington, Judy Quinn and Brittany Schorn (Cambridge 2016) 33–57, at 48. 9 The Nordic Apocalypse. Approaches to Völuspá and Nordic Days of Judgement, eds., Terry Gunnell and Annette Lassen, Acta Scandinavica, Aberdeen Studies in the Scandinavian World 2 (Turnhout 2013).
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